O C T O B E R 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 9
staffed for surgeries that run late or start late, but it also promotes a
better work-life balance for the other members of our OR team by let-
ting them (almost always) go home at their regularly scheduled time. A
dedicated late-case team can also help your bottom line by reducing
unscheduled hours of overtime and increasing your caseload. An
added benefit: You'll reduce the late-case team's 40-hour work week (5
8's) to 36 hours (3 12's).
One final note: Even though our physicians agreed to limit their late
cases to 3 days, we know there will be exceptions. We asked our day-
shift staff to pick 1 Tuesday or Friday each month that they could stay
late on the off chance a case runs over on a day for which we don't
have late-case cover-
age. But with our new
schedule in place, our
RNs and techs are
usually home in time
for dinner.
Philip B. Binkley,
MBA, BSN, RN
Houston (Texas)
Methodist
Willowbrook
Centerfield Surgery
pbbinkley@houst-
onmethodist.org
